A Citizens’ Assembly is a fairly large body of citizens that come together to deliberate on an issue, or set of issues of local, regional or national importance. Participants are usually selected to create a ‘mini-public’ that is broadly representative of the demographics of the population.

A video from the Citizens' Assembly on Social Care, UK.

The participants learn about a topic through a combination of presentations from experts and facilitated workshops (although they are also often provided with learning materials that introduce them to the topic being discussed before the Assembly starts).

This is followed by a dialogue phase which encourages participants to explore their own opinions on what they have heard and develop a wider understanding of the opinions of others. Experts will usually participate in this phase to provide additional information and clarification (but not opinions).

The deliberation phase of the Assembly involves participants coming to some conclusions on what they have learnt through the assembly process. Most large Assemblies will do this through voting systems, but smaller Assemblies might use consensus decision making processes.

Citizens’ Assemblies usually tend to be quite high-profile events. The relevant decision makers will often be present at the Assembly allowing citizens to present their findings directly.